14 Apr BULLETIN – SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2024
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Third Sunday of Easter
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
THANKSGIVING for BAPTISM
Please join me by making the sign of the cross in remembrance of your baptism. Blessed be the holy Trinity, [☩] one God, the wellspring of grace, the source of our Easter joy.
Amen.
Look, here is water, our water of life!
Alleluia!
Immersed in the promises of baptism, we give thanks for what God has done for us.
We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning your voice thundered over the deep and water became the essence of life.
At the river your beloved Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you opened the floodgates of reconciling love, freeing us to live as your people.
We rejoice with glad hearts, giving all honor and praise to you,
through the risen Christ, our living water, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.
Receive the water of life!
Alleluia!
ENTRANCE HYMN
Peace to Soothe Our Bitter Woes #338
APOSTOLIC GREETING Page 57
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
KYRIE Pages 57-59
🎶In peace let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For this holy house, and for all who offer here and online their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶Help, save, comfort, and defend us gracious Lord.
🎶Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE Pages 58-59
🎶Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
🎶Lord God, heavenly king, almighty God and Father: we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God: You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life, and you adopt us to be your children. Fill us with your words of life, that we may live as witnesses to the resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
FIRST READING ACTS 3:12-19
[Peter] addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”
PSALM 23
🎶Answer me when I call, O God, defender | of my cause; you set me free when I was in distress; have mercy on me and | hear my prayer.
🎶“You mortals, how long will you dishon| or my glory; how long will you love illusions and seek | after lies?”
🎶Know that the Lord does wonders | for the faithful; the LORD will hear me | when I call.
🎶Tremble, then, and | do not sin; speak to your heart in silence up- | on your bed.
🎶Offer the appointed | sacrifices, and put your trust | in the Lord.
🎶Many are saying, “Who will show us | any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon | us, O Lord.
🎶You have put gladness | in my heart, more than when grain and | wine abound.
🎶In peace, I will lie | down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me | rest secure.
SECOND READING 1 JOHN 3:1-7
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Page 62
🎶Alleluia, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the 24th chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL LUKE 24:36b-48
Jesus himself stood among [the disciples] and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
🎶Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN of the DAY
How Great Thou Art #532
PROFESSION of FAITH Nicene Creed Page 64
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS of INTERCESSION
Rejoicing that Jesus is risen and love has triumphed over fear, let us pray for the church, the world, and all those who need good news. A brief silence.
God our holy one, you feed our deepest hungers. Lead us to share what has been given for us and to us, all that we have. May we find in generosity, even more abundant life. Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
God our creator, you bring forth all life on earth. Calm storms, bring water to parched places, and protect the climate, that this planet would sustain life in all its variety. Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
God our savior, you offer wisdom and guidance beyond all human knowledge. Instruct those who make and enforce the law to make decisions and act grounded in your justice and care for all people. Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
God our elder, you care for all your children. Encourage those who are in times of transition, facing the loss of old ways and routines and anticipating change. Guide those who journey in grief, hope, and uncertainty (especially those on our prayer list). Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
God our center, you bring all people together in you. Help us to remember our identity and purpose in our ministry. Move us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to share in beloved community. Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
God, make us lie down in peace to sleep and rest secure in you alone. Your Son Jesus promised that we are held in your love forever. We remember those who have died, remember and share their love. Please comfort those who mourn. Answer us when we call, have mercy and hear our prayer.
We trust in you and rest securely in your hands, most merciful God, as we commend all for whom we pray to your abiding love; put gladness in our hearts through Jesus Christ, our resurrected and living Lord. Amen.
EXCHANGE OF PEACE
OFFERING
OFFERATORY
🎶Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
BENEDICTION
CLOSING HYMN
The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done #135
DISMISSAL Page 74
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission. Prayers adapted from Sundays and Seasons, copyright © 2019, Augsburg Fortress. Used with permission. Psalm readings from Lutheran Book of Worship, copyright © 1978. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual Subscription #SB160715 Other quotations from Scripture from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of Churches in Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Altar flowers at St Peter are presented by Ron & Doris Rode in memory of our parents.
Altar flowers at Messiah are presented by Gary & Nancy Stoneroad in memory of our son Gary Lee.